News Archives

Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) Senior Research Engineer Robert Wunderlich is featured in a USA Today story (source: Pew/Stateline), “Deadly crashes on rural roads prompt new safety efforts,” wherein he discusses building safety into road projects from the get-go to help prevent traffic crashes. Simple engineering changes at the design stage — such as rumble […]

The Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) hosted for the second year in a row the virtual Traffic Safety Conference July 14–16, 2021. Supported by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), the event focused on high priority safety issues and innovative solutions to end the streak of daily fatal crashes in Texas. This year’s conference also […]

The Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) is a supporting entity for the Southern Regional Climate Center (SRCC), which will conduct research at the intersection of transportation and extreme weather. The SRCC officially moved to Texas A&M University May 14, 2021, from Louisiana State University. The Texas A&M University System team includes TTI, Texas A&M’s College […]

Among 350 Texas aviation leaders, former colleagues, friends and family, David S. Fulton, a nationally recognized leader in the aviation industry and the first director of the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) Aviation Division, was inducted into the Texas Transportation Hall of Honor at the Texas Aviation Conference awards banquet in San Marcos, Texas, on […]

The fifth annual 2021 Texas Child Passenger Safety Conference was held virtually June 29–July 1, 2021. Sponsored by the Texas Department of Transportation, the conference was organized by the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) and the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service. With 384 attendees this year, the conference helped child passenger safety technicians (CPSTs) stay […]

Marquis “Mark” G. Goode, Jr., a Texas Transportation Hall of Honor 2008 inductee, will be 100 years old on Aug. 12, 2021. Goode worked for the Texas State Department of Highways and Public Transportation (now the Texas Department of Transportation [TxDOT]) for four decades, where he helped build the Interstate Highway System we rely on […]

Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) Senior Research Engineer Karen Dixon is the 2021 recipient of the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) Safety Council Edmund R. Ricker Award. The award recognizes traffic safety leaders through their involvement in professional organizations, the community and traffic engineering performance. The award is named after Edmund R. Ricker, president of […]

Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) Research Scientist Yanzhi “Ann” Xu is the co-founder of ElectroTempo, Inc., a start-up company for electric vehicle charging demand software technology. The company was incorporated Nov. 19, 2020. The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents granted approval at its board meeting May 20, 2021, for Xu, as a TTI […]

By Tim Lomax, David Schrank, and Bill Eisele COVID-19’s impact on roadway traffic was deep and widespread, and it was entirely predictable given the shutdowns that occurred. What’s equally clear, is the lesson we can draw from our experience, particularly now, as American infrastructure needs are once again top of mind. That lesson is: the […]

The Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) entered into an agreement with Hillwood as AllianceTexas’ official Mobility Innovation Zone (MIZ) research partner. Hillwood’s AllianceTexas development is located next to the world’s first dedicated industrial airport, Fort Worth Alliance Airport. The partnership will leverage the experience and expertise of TTI’s nationally recognized team of researchers and forward-thinkers […]

Alkali–silica reactions (ASRs) cause cracking issues in precast concrete bridge structures across the United States. Anol Mukhopadhyay, Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) senior research scientist, developed two ASR test methods and a four-step process for formulating ASR-resistant concrete mixes. Mukhopadhyay notes that TTI Assistant Research Scientist Kai-Wei (Victor) Liu’s collaboration in the lab was key […]

COVID-19 Gave Us an Historic Traffic Hiatus, But the Pause Didn’t Last Long America’s worst public health crisis in a century flattened roadway congestion to levels not seen in 40 years, but the respite was short-lived, according to the 2021 Urban Mobility Report (UMR) from the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI). In the pandemic shutdown […]

Dr. Zachary Grasley has been named the new head of the Zachry Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Texas A&M University, effective Sept. 1. Grasley has been the director of the Center for Infrastructure Renewal (CIR) at Texas A&M since January 2018. “I am really excited for the opportunity to lead this dynamic department […]

Led by Xiaoyu “Sky” Guo, Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) engineering graduate student worker, the Aggie Vision team is one of two student finalists for the second annual Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) Vision Zero Design Sandbox Competition. The team includes Sruthi Ashraf, TTI engineering graduate student worker; Zihao Li, TTI graduate research assistant; Chaolun […]

John Habermann, Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) research engineer, recently coauthored the article “The Contribution of State and Local DOTs to Disrupting Human Trafficking” in the June 2021 issue of the ITE Journal. The publication reaches nearly 16,000 subscribers and Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) members. The article defines human trafficking as the “recruitment, harboring, […]

Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) Graduate Research Assistant Ali Khodadadi recently published the article “Application of Different Negative Binominal Parameterizations to Develop Safety Performance Functions for Non-Federal Aid System Roads” in volume 156 (June 2021) of Accident Analysis & Prevention. The authors also include Subasish Das, TTI assistant research scientist; Yingfeng Li, Virginia Tech Transportation Institute […]

Researchers at the Texas A&M Transportation Institute and Texas A&M University investigated the relationship between phone use behavior and road geometrics determining that using a phone while driving is more than just a self-choice. The combination and presence of a shoulder, median, higher speed limit and extra lanes could encourage more phone use while driving. […]

By: Gregory Winfree and Zachary Grasley The subject of our nation’s infrastructure is once again prominent, both in the wake of the recent release of the American Society of Civil Engineers quadrennial report card on the state of America’s infrastructure and among our policymakers in Washington, D.C. The ASCE report card presents one of those […]

Texas A&M Transportation Institute Senior Research Engineer and the Director of the Center for Transportation Safety Robert Wunderlich was recently quoted in an article in The Washington Post. The story, Think the pandemic made you forget how to drive and park? Experts explain what’s going on, focuses on how some people are reporting that they’ve […]

Increasing recycled materials content in asphalt mixtures has numerous economic and environmental benefits, but ensuring good performance has always been a challenge. That’s because stiff, brittle, heavily aged materials can result in premature cracking. This synthesis project sets the course for revising TxDOT’s Standard and/or Special Specifications to recognize this challenge. The TTI video production […]